TabangKO Philippines - Mobile Money Cash Transfers and Financial Literacy in the Post-disaster Context

Last registered on March 05, 2015

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

TabangKO Philippines - Mobile Money Cash Transfers and Financial Literacy in the Post-disaster Context

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0000656

Initial registration date

March 05, 2015

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

March 05, 2015, 7:56 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Keith Ives

Affiliation

Causal Design

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Reimar Macaranas

PI Affiliation

Causal Design

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2014-06-01

End date

2015-03-31

Keywords

Finance & Microfinance

Additional Keywords

cash transfer, mobile money, disaster relief, post-disaster context, financial literacy, savings reminders, savings encouragement, disaster recovery, resilience

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

This program attempts to better understand the role different cash transfer programs design elements using a unique experiment targeted to households in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013. The program featured several distinct interventions. In all cases, households received a cash transfer delivered to mobile bank accounts that could be then accessed at local banking outlets in the region. One group received the standard delivery method of three disbursements over the course of four to five months. This was contrasted to a group that received the disbursement in a lump sum payment at the first disbursement period. An additional group received the standard disbursement model along with an introductory financial literacy overview and presentation. A final group received the standard disbursement, the introductory financial overview, and a series of messages delivered via text and voice messages that encouraged savings behavior.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Ives, Keith and Reimar Macaranas. 2015. "TabangKO Philippines - Mobile Money Cash Transfers and Financial Literacy in the Post-disaster Context." AEA RCT Registry. March 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.656-1.0

Former Citation

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

In early 2014, Mercy Corps partnered with BPI Globe BanKO, a branchless mobile bank, to open savings accounts and deliver unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) of PhP 3,950 (approximately 88 USD) to over 25,000 households severely impacted by typhoon Yolanda. The transfers were scheduled for disbursement in three payments, PhP 2000, 1200, and finally 750 (approximately 45, 27, and 16 USD, respectively), between June and September 2014. The program utilized a completely mobile platform to deposit secure cash transfers to savings accounts provided to all beneficiaries. In addition to the UCT, participants received a brief one to two hour overview of financial literacy principles through a local consulting company. For a specific subset of beneficiaries, Mercy Corps aimed to build on the initial financial overview by providing targeted text and voice messages consisting of savings behavior encouragement.

Intervention Start Date

2014-06-01

Intervention End Date

2014-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Use of Cash (Intermediate Outcome): Nondurable Goods Index, Durable Good Index, Materials used to build home.

Productive Asset Investment (Intermediate Outcome): Animal Assets Index (Large and Small Animals), Work Equipment Index, Ability to recover damaged work assets.

Prevention of Asset Shedding (Intermediate Outcome): Animal Assets Index (Large Animals), Work Equipment Index

Reported Savings Behavior (Intermediate Outcome): Reported Average Monthly Savings, Informal Savings Usage, Formal Savings Usage, Reported activity following hypothetical positive cash shock

Secondary Intermediate Outcomes: Dietary Diversity Index, Coping Strategies Index, Progress out of Poverty Index

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

In certain cases, outcome variables will be constructed through the creation of various indices from a set of variables. For established indices, guidance will be taken from source material on the appropriate scoring and compiling process. For general asset compilation the evaluation will employ two strategies; the sum of asset inventories will be aggregated across the variables and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) will be used. For variables utilizing a likert scale, average values will be used to construct a single index.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

While Mercy Corps’ program was implemented across multiple areas, this impact evaluation is limited to Western Leyte. The eligibility criteria and subsequent registration process resulted in 5,489 households enrolled in the program. Of these 1,738 were randomly selected to receive a baseline survey and assigned to the following treatment groups: A1, A2, B, and C.

In total, three surveys were administered to the treatment groups involved in the evaluation. A baseline survey was conducted for each beneficiary immediately after the completion of program registration and before administration of the financial literacy training overview. Analyzing basic difference of means, data from the baseline survey indicated that all treatment groups were balanced across observable characteristics. A midline survey was conducted after the distribution of the third cash transfer and focused on changes in consumption patterns spending. The third and final survey will be completed by the end of February 2015.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office

Randomization Unit

Individuals Beneficiaries (Household Financial Decisionmakers) for all four treatments. Randomization assignment of individuals occurred within each village.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

The focus of the impact evaluation is Western Leyte. Within this region, the targeted beneficiaries resided in 39 villages that were spread out over six municipalities.

Sample size: planned number of observations

1,738 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Treatment A1: 446, Treatment A2: 456, Treatment B: 364, Treatment C: 393

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB